Open to Life Scouts (or almost), parents, Eagle Coaches, Scoutmasters, Advancement Chairs … anyone who would like to learn more about the ins and outs of the Eagle process. There is no charge for this event but registration is required (so there are enough chairs). Register on the Council website.

Just a reminder that the transition period to the new boy scout requirements published in 2016 has ended – ALL scouts must now use the new requirements. In addition there are a few changes made effective January 2017: The second class rank has a some wording changes and the first class rank requires the scout to develop a plan for adding physical activity into his daily life.

The Disability Awareness, Hiking, Pioneering, and Radio Merit badges have had significant changes while many merit badges have had minor changes. As usual, a scout who has begun working on a merit badge may continue using the old requirements, unless he chooses to switch to the new requirements.

Merit Badge Counselor training is now available on-line at the BSA Learn Center. The training consists of six short video courses with test questions at the end of each. Each segment may be taken independently. The total training time should be about an hour – less if you have already taken some of the courses in the scoutmaster or committee position training sequences.

You may access the BSA Learn Center through your my.scouting.org account, either by clicking on the Learn Center Logo on the home page after login or through the Training Center tab on your dashboard. In the Course Catalog tab add the two Merit Badge Counselor learning plans to your account (click the green plus) and then access the training through the Learn Center My Learning tab.

The in-person version of this training is still available. If your unit would like to schedule the in-person version of the Merit Counselor training, contact Dave Rypka.